Chapter 41
Sunday's broom race was a huge success and just about everyone on the island came out to take part, either as a competitor or as a spectator.
"Why didn't you compete?" Tom asked Harry quietly as they stood near the finish line in the centre of Spellbridge waiting for the racers to arrive. "I thought you loved flying on a broom?"
"I do love flying, sure," Harry whispered back, meanwhile keeping an eye on street, which was lined with a crowd of people all eager to see who the winner would be. "But I'm the Governor. I'm not exactly impartial in such events, and the last thing I want is for other participants to feel like they should let me win or something silly like that."
"I suppose that's a concern, yes," Tom agreed with a thoughtful look.
"I'll just cheer people on and hand out the prizes." Harry craned his neck as he heard the crowd further up the street start cheering.
The racers came flying towards them at breakneck speed, the first bunch of them very close together, but it was still clear who the winner was once they crossed the finish line. Nigel Patterson, Libby the hairdresser's son who was a fifth year Hufflepuff, finished first on his own broom that he used to play Chaser on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. Second was Amira Saidi, their new Head of Muggle Affairs, who had played Quidditch back when she'd been a Gryffindor. And third was Draco Malfoy, who was the current Seeker for the Slytherin team and who flew without a doubt the most expensive broom.
"This has been a great way to see who has some real talent on a broom," Sirius said to Harry as they got ready to award the winners their prizes. When Harry quirked an eyebrow at him, Sirius added with a huge grin, "We're starting a Quidditch League, didn't I tell you that yet?"
Shaking his head, Harry gave his godfather a fond look. "Not yet, but I'm not surprised, honestly."
"You know, Harry would be great as a Quidditch player," James said as he floated a little closer to them, Lily by his side. Harry's whole family had wanted to see the broom race, and aside from Bernadine and Henry, they were all there. Harry no longer felt the need to hide his family away as he'd done at first, especially since most of Magica's inhabitants were used to seeing Auntie Eustice around as she taught Kashvi everything about charming broomsticks.
"I bet you'd be great," Sirius said, staring at Harry with hopeful eyes. "If he takes after you just a little bit in that regard, Prongs, he'd be more than good enough to fly on a Quidditch Team."
Harry held up a hand to ward off his godfather's enthusiasm. "I am far too busy to play Quidditch, I mean it. Don't even tempt me."
James and Sirius exchanged a look that clearly showed they would be tempting Harry at some point in the future. Probably a lot.
Harry wanted to protest some more but the winners appeared before them so he got to work awarding them their prizes. Afterwards there was a gathering of people in the pub and on town square, and the pub and other stores like the bakery did great business as people mingled while enjoying a pint and some pastries.
Tom and Harry socialized with many of the people there, taking this opportunity to talk to those around them, and listen to their concerns or suggestions. They didn't stay too late, and like most people they headed home early in the evening.
The next day they had their first official meeting of Magica's brand-new government. The construction crew had done a great job finishing up the interior of the Ministry building, and they had a large conference room available for their meetings with a rectangular table made of dark oak. Harry sat at the head, with Tom on one side of him and Sabrina on the other one.
"Welcome," Harry said as he looked at all the gathered Department Heads. "I've got a few announcements to make and after that each of you will have a chance to speak." Harry watched as everyone nodded in agreement. "This week we expect an undercover Auror to join us from the British Ministry."
That certainly got a reaction and everyone looked at everyone else as they asked worried questions or complained about foreign governments overstepping themselves.
"Not to worry," Harry all but yelled over the many worried voices. "We know who it is and when they'll arrive and I'll be there to welcome them."
"That's it?" Lucius demanded as he gave Harry a disbelieving glare. "You are simply going to welcome this intruder?"
"Sure," Harry said easily, quite amused to see everyone so up in arms. "We're not hiding anything here, Lucius. We're just building a brand new country. Britain could send a whole regiment of Aurors and I'd welcome them all and given them a private tour if they were interested. And by the end of that tour I'd tell them to fuck back off to their own country and leave us be."
That got him a few chuckles from most of them, but it seemed that Harry had managed to convince them that nothing more needed to be done.
"This means that we will be officially discovered soon, though," Tom added as he glanced around the table. "I've got all the paperwork for the ICW ready to file the moment Britain tries to lay a claim on us."
"I doubt they'll even know what to do," Remus said with a small smile. "The British Ministry, I mean. This is unprecedented. At any rate, I've given priority to any applications from outside of Britain, so we'll have a mixture of nationalities living here by the time Britain could try to make a claim."
"That will help us in front of the ICW, I'm sure," Tom said with a decisive nod.
"The Transportation Hall should be finished this week, before the undercover Auror arrives," Sebastian said, which Harry was very pleased to hear. "After that we will have complete control over who apparates or portkeys onto the island."
Tom frowned as he leaned forwards in his chair to glance at Sebastian. "How are you going to identify who is a Magica citizen and who isn't?"
"That is an excellent question," Sebastian said and looked at Harry with raised eyebrows.
"I'm not actually sure how we're going to do that," Harry said slowly, because he honestly hadn't considered that issue just yet.
"The British Ministry uses magical passports," Corban Yaxley said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Anyone wanting to travel abroad can apply for one and then use it to travel internationally."
"We can create something like that," Tom suggested before Harry could say something similar. "I think our departments should work on that together for the time being, Corban."
Corban couldn't help giving Tom a deep, respectful nod in agreement, even though Tom's identity as Voldemort was officially a secret. Though to be honest, Harry wasn't sure anymore if Tom even wanted to continue as Voldemort in any official capacity. He hadn't really brought it up since getting back the majority of his soul. Well, whatever the case, now was not the time to consider such things.
"Great, so you'll take care of magical passports. Sabrina, could you put a piece in The Daily Snitch about people needing them from now on to travel abroad?" Harry glanced at his assistant, who nodded eagerly and wrote down a reminder for herself. "Good, who else has an announcement to make?"
Everyone had something to say, and one after the other they got a chance to speak their minds. Since this was their first meeting and everyone was still busy with getting their departments up and running, it was mostly small issues that needed to be discussed. Harry was just happy they had a government and that everyone seemed dedicated to get their departments working like they should.
Lucius presented a preliminary tax plan, which consisted of everyone paying the exact amount of taxes. Harry gave him a tired look. "The rich will pay more taxes than the poor, Lucius. Make that work."
"Are you certain?" Lucius tried with a charming little smile.
"Yes," Harry snapped, though he couldn't fault Lucius for trying to get things working to his own advancement. The man was a Slytherin after all. "Create a tax scale that's reasonable."
Lucius nodded though he did look just a bit disappointed. Not that Harry cared.
"When can the primary school building be done?" Theodorus Nott asked while giving Sebastian an inquisitive glance. "We're getting quite a few children now, not to mention the younger members of the Galloway Pack are ready for more formal education."
Sebastian paged through a stack of paperwork in front of him. "The school is on our schedule. Should be ready within two weeks."
"That's workable. I'll hire a few teachers in the meantime," Theodorus said with a satisfied nod.
"There are still some people living on large pieces of land that are not contributing to the food supply," Rachel said with a very pointed look aimed directly at Sirius.
"Yeah, fine, we'll get some sheep," Sirius mumbled, looking utterly uninterested in the subject.
Harry sighed and leaned back in his seat. He didn't know what Sirius' problem was when it came to keeping livestock, but Rachel was absolutely right to call him out on it. "What about I buy a herd of cattle and let them graze on your land?" Harry suggested, since that would be a great solution for getting some English Longhorn cattle and keeping them away from the Scottish Highlands, so their offspring remained pure. And Sirius had plenty of land for a small herd of cattle, Harry was sure.
"Sure, that would be great," Sirius said quickly, offering Harry a relieved smile.
"That's acceptable," Rachel said, writing something down in her notebook.
"I think you'll all be happy to hear I got an application from a healer," Remus announced when it was his turn. He did get lots of excited reactions to that, since they were in desperate need of one. "A Danish wolf pack has sent in an application to move here. One of their newer members is a fully trained and experienced Healer, who got infected just last year." Remus shuffled through some documents in front of him. "His name is Johan Rasmussen."
"That is great news." Harry couldn't hold back a most satisfied grin. "When he arrives, be sure to ask him if he's willing to train a few more Healers."
"I will, don't worry," Remus said at once. "I have a small list of people who have indicated that they would like to work in healthcare."
Harry released a deep sigh, glad to have that problem finally dealt with. Having a growing society with no one available to help those in medical need had been a very real problem, but now a solution to that was finally at hand.
Sirius was last to speak. "We're starting a Quidditch League!" Sirius gave everyone expectant looks, and most seemed willing to indulge him by smiling and nodding at his enthusiastic announcement. "It's going to be a while until we get it up and running, but Sebastian told me we've got four cities planned for the near future, so I suggest we get four Quidditch teams up and running to begin with."
"I'm assuming it will be on a semi-professional basis," Lucius said with an unimpressed glare. "Magica is hardly capable of supporting four fully professional teams at this time."
Sirius waved those comments away as though they were the silliest things he'd ever heard. "Like I said, it's a work in progress. I just want to start recruiting early. And I want to build a Quidditch Stadium."
"We don't have money for that. We haven't even collected any taxes yet," Lucius said at once, his voice taking on a sharp edge.
"Financed by me," Sirius countered with a daring grin while he gave Lucius an utterly triumphant look. "Reggie and I have been talking, and he's happy to chip in as well. It will be the Black Quidditch Stadium right here in Spellbridge."
Lucius sat up and stared at Sirius as though the man had just personally insulted him. "Then I shall finance the construction of a Quidditch Stadium in Hexport. The Malfoy Quidditch Stadium."
Theodorus chuckled as though he hadn't seen something as funny as that in ages. "And I'll pay for the Nott Quidditch Stadium in Kneazledale."
Everyone looked around the table to see if someone was willing to sponsor the fourth and final stadium. Patroclus gave Harry a pointed look. Harry's great-grandfather had always been a huge Quidditch fan, as most members of Harry's family were. Harry also knew that James would never forgive him if Harry didn't build a Quidditch stadium in the Potter name. "Yeah, all right. I'll pay for the Potter Quidditch Stadium in Hippogriff Hollow."
"Good lad," Patroclus mumbled with a little smirk.
"Yeah!" Sirius punched a fist in the air. "That will certainly help to get the Magica Quidditch League up and running." He gave everyone around him a knowing look. "You all saw how much the people enjoyed the broom race yesterday. Sports connects people like few other things can."
Sirius did have a point there, Harry figured, so he gave his godfather an approving smile and called the meeting to an end. It had been a good first meeting, even if a lot was left on the table to decide on in the future. "Same time next week," Harry said as he got up from his chair. Meeting like this every week seemed like a necessity until they got everything up and running smoothly, and probably beyond that as well. As Governor Harry wanted to keep himself informed on everything that was going on in his country.
"That was a productive morning," Tom said with a warm smile as he accompanied Harry to his new office. There wasn't any furniture in it yet, save for a few wooden chairs and a small desk Harry had hastily conjured.
And a very simple perch for V, who made his dissatisfaction known as he landed on it. "Dumb perch, dumb perch."
"Yeah, yeah," Harry mumbled and made a mental note to visit with Erika and Claire to commission some decent furniture for his office. "You can make do with that thing for now, V."
Harry sat down behind his small desk with a sigh and summoned Violet. "Tea for two, please. And something light to eat." Then he turned to look at Tom and smiled at him. "Yeah, things are really starting to run smoothly, aren't they?"
Tom sat down on the only other chair in the office. "For as far as can be expected of a country that's only been around for a few months, certainly."
"I just want to have some level of government up and running for when we're discovered," Harry said as he poured them both a steaming cup of tea. "The more we resemble a real, fully functioning country, the fewer claims anyone else can make on us."
"I have several different speeches already prepared to give in front of the ICW," Tom said before blowing over his cup a few times. He took a long sip and released a satisfied sigh.
Harry quietly observed him while remembering his earlier thoughts about Tom's old ambitions. "Do you still even want to be Voldemort right now?"
Tom coughed violently a few times while he stared at Harry with wide eyes.
Harry sat back and couldn't hold back a knowing grin. "Did I just hit on something significant here, or what?"
For a moment Tom looked like he was about to verbally rake Harry over the coals but then he sighed, his shoulders slumping just a bit. "To be completely honest with you, I have no idea. I certainly don't want to return to how things were in the past."
"We already knew that," Harry said, tilting his head as he stared at his lover in fascination. He'd never met someone who was undergoing such enormous changes in their life, on all possible levels. "But you seem to have lost any enthusiasm for the role of Voldemort entirely since regaining your soul."
"Voldemort just seems entirely superfluous these days," Tom said in a quiet voice, not meeting Harry's eyes as he stared off into the distance. "Everything is running smoothly in Magica, and even if we were to run into problems, we would need diplomacy, not a Dark Lord, to solve them."
Harry laughed and picked up a slice of lemon cake from the tray. "I'm glad you've come this far. It's been amazing to see you recover the way you have."
Tom didn't seem to know if he should regard that comment as a compliment or an insult and his face did a few contradicting things before he simply nodded and sipped more tea. Harry could hardly imagine what it must be like for Tom himself to go through such radical changes. When Harry first met him, his soul was still a jagged mess and that was after he'd already reunited with the diary horcrux. Harry shuddered to think what sort of a man Tom had been when he'd only had a tiny fraction of his original soul to work with. There was a small sense of professional curiosity that wanted to see what a human being looked like without most of their soul, but mostly Harry figured he was lucky that he had never met the Dark Lord Voldemort at his most inhumane.
"You could retire Voldemort entirely," Harry said on impulse, though he was immediately unsure if he'd taken things too far or not.
Snorting, Tom shook his head though he didn't seem angry or truly upset in any other way. "I have considered that, yes. But I believe my followers still expect me to act like Voldemort from time to time."
"Or," Harry said slowly, leaning towards Tom a little and giving him an encouraging look. "You could stop thinking of them as followers and start treating them as colleagues, which is what they are to you right now."
Something seemed to dawn on Tom and he looked at Harry as though seeing him for the very first time. "Look at you," Tom said, voice full of astonishment. "Look at how easily you've vanquished Lord Voldemort."
Harry raised both eyebrows as he stared at Tom. "Er…"
Laughing, Tom couldn't disguise the admiration on his face, even though he seemed to be trying to. "You came out of nowhere and within barely two months you've lured me into your bed, you've got me working in the government you lead and you're now encouraging me to do away with being the Dark Lord entirely. How utterly brilliant you are, Harry Potter, to have accomplished such a thing without even trying."
Ducking his head, Harry gave a helpless shrug. "I'm not sure if you'll believe me or not, but I truly didn't mean for any of that to happen."
"Oh, I believe it," Tom said with a look not out of place on a lovesick fool. "I see how you operate, dearest. You couldn't plan anything further than a week out even if the fate of the entire world depended on it. That is what makes this all so truly extraordinary."
Grinning, Harry couldn't help but say, "So was that yes on retiring Voldemort, or…?"
"I'll consider it," Tom said, most of the affection slipping off his face as he gave Harry an even look. "And there is a lot to consider, so you'll have to give me some time."
"Sure," Harry said with an encouraging gesture before reaching for his tea. "Take all the time you need."
Over the next three days Harry made sure everything was in place for the arrival of the Auror. Sebastian and his construction crew finished the Transportation Hall, Tom and Corban sorted out the magical passports, and Harry raised the anti-apparition wards over the island so that the Auror couldn't call for backup and accidentally set off a genuine invasion of a foreign country. During those three days Remus and his immigration crew welcomed only new people from countries other than Britain. It was a ragtag assortment of werewolves and muggleborns, for the most part, from Denmark, Germany, Italy, Albania, Poland, Greece, India, Singapore, Kenia and one lone American half-blood. Remus had hired two assistants and he still had trouble keeping up with all the new applications from all over the world.
Mildred from the Post Office got a few volunteers together and organized free English lessons in Town Hall for all the international newcomers twice a week. Most of these new citizens spoke at least some English, but a majority of them could probably do with some language lessons.
Then finally the day came that the Auror was set to arrive. Thanks to Bernadine and Henry's diligent spy work, Harry knew exactly what the Auror's undercover identity was going to be and who to look out for.
Remus and his two assistants stood behind the immigration terminals in the brand-new portkey hall, registering all the new people coming in that day. Harry was there under the guise of talking a few issues through with Remus about the immigration process, but in truth he was simply waiting for the Auror to arrive. He'd left V outside, not wanting his chatty companion to spoil anything.
Nymphadora Tonks appeared at three o'clock sharp holding a rusty candlestick. She looked completely average. She had an average body of average height, with average hair and an average face. Harry thought this was an excellent disguise because Doreen Jones, as Tonks called herself on her application, was an utterly average and therefore forgettable woman.
Tonks stepped up to Remus' desk, where Harry conveniently stood to chat with his friend. He immediately took a look at her soul, which was young and bright and full of energy and really didn't match Doreen's average appearance. And now that Harry had seen her soul once, he'd be able to pick her out from then on, no matter what she looked like on the outside. Souls were like fingerprints; they were all unique.
"Hi!" Tonks said with a huge smile, before remembering she was playing an average woman and toning her enthusiasm down a little. From what Harry understood from Bernadine and Henry, Tonks had only just passed all her Auror exams and she was brand new at her job. Which probably explained her excess energy. "I'd like to register and…er…get some more information about this place?"
Remus gave Tonks an apologetic smile, playing along perfectly. "I'm so sorry, Miss Jones, but we are swamped today. I don't have time to answer many questions right now."
Harry stepped in at once. "Just get her registered, Remus, and I'll give Miss Jones a tour and tell her what she wants to know."
Tonks blinked large eyes as she stared at Harry, as though only now noticing him. "Oh, you're Harry Potter."
"That I am," Harry said with a grin. "And I also happen to be the founder and Governor of Magica, so there is no better man on our island to answer your questions."
Tonks looked like her next promotion at work had come early. "Yes, please, thanks!"
"We'll discuss that issue with the passports later," Harry told Remus while he stepped around the desk to stand beside Tonks.
Remus asked her the usual questions, which Tonks answered without any problems, though she did pause a bit after Remus asked her what kind of work she wanted to do before she answered that she would like to work for the government.
"Which department?" Harry asked, leaning his hip against the desk as he quietly observed Tonks.
"Oh…er…any would do," Tonks said quickly.
"Law enforcement?" Harry asked, giving her a hopeful look. "We desperately need people there." Which wasn't a lie, since Patroclus was a harsh taskmaster and wouldn't allow just anyone in his department, so therefore the selection process to work there was particularly strict.
"Yeah, sure," Tonks said, looking a bit puzzled, probably wondering if Harry knew more than he let on.
"My great-grandfather runs that department," Harry said, keeping his tone light. "And he's very picky about who he lets into his new Auror force. So we encourage everyone to apply. That way we'll hopefully fill all the positions at some point in the future."
Tonks cleared her throat. "Your great-grandfather?"
"Yes. Patroclus Macmillan," Harry said with a proud smile. "He worked as an Auror for many years before becoming Head Auror and eventually Head of Magical Law Enforcement in the British Ministry."
"I thought he was dead," Tonks mumbled, clearly confused.
"Sure he's dead, but that's never stopped anyone when their great-grandson is a necromancer, now has it?" Harry gave Tonks a shit-eating grin, which grew bigger the paler Tonks became.
"You're a necromancer?" Tonks whispered in utter disbelief.
"First rule of Magica," Harry said with an airy gesture around the hall. "All magic is legal."
"This is you done," Remus interrupted, handing Tonks some paperwork. "Your new residence is at Fir Street number 12. Harry can show you where it is."
"Sure. Come along, Miss Jones." And without giving Tonks any time to process what she'd just learned, Harry turned on the spot and marched out of the hall towards the Ministry building and the centre of Spellbridge. V came flying down at once and landed on Harry's shoulder, pulling on his hair a few times for having been left behind.
"That's our Ministry," Harry said as he pointed out the huge, white building with its large columns around the entrance.
"Wait, wait," Tonks said as she came rushing after him, backpack slung carelessly over her shoulder. "Are you really a necromancer? That's incredibly dark magic."
"I am well aware," Harry said with a bit of a snort, while V briefly cackled. "I practice that magic every day and have been since I was a teenager." Harry stopped walking and gave Tonks a measured look. "Why do you think I created a whole new country? Because I found out that all the magic I want to do is bloody well illegal in Britain."
Tonks sputtered for a moment, looking like she wasn't sure which was up or down anymore. "But you can't just create a new country!"
"Sure I can." Harry turned around on the spot and spread out his arms. "You're standing in it. I created the whole island in international waters, so no one has a claim to it but us."
"But…but…" Tonks really looked utterly lost by this revelation, and Harry realized that she truly hadn't understood what Magica was before coming there. The Auror department had probably only heard about a place where all the werewolves and other people from Knockturn Alley were disappearing to. So they'd sent in someone undercover to learn more about it.
Well, Auror Tonks was getting a few lessons, all right.
Harry crossed his arms and waited a few moments until Tonks looked like she wasn't about to keel over from shock. "I'm not sure if you've noticed this or not, Miss Jones, but there were a lot of disenfranchised people living in Britain's wizarding world. The werewolves, the vampires, the muggleborns, dark wizards, squibs and more. They were all treated like lesser beings in their old country. So once I created this island I invited them to come live here. It's as simple as that."
Tonks looked so lost that Harry felt a bit sorry for her at that point. This obviously wasn't what she'd been expecting to find. Harry resumed walking and Tonks quietly followed along as they walked from the Ministry through a small park towards Gringotts. The goblins had torn down the placeholder building in a day and had quickly started construction on their new bank.
"Is that a Gringotts bank?" Tonks asked, eyes wide as she glanced between the bank and Harry.
"Blind witch, blind witch," V chattered while he glared at Tonks for stating the obvious.
"Yes," Harry said as they rounded the building, High Street now coming into view. "We have more and more shops opening, so we desperately needed a bank. Thankfully the goblins were all too happy to open a new branch in a country where there are no restrictive laws against their species."
"That is…er…fantastic," Tonks said without any real enthusiasm, since she was still in too much obvious shock.
Just as they entered High Street, Rigel the dragon came flying over, barely clearing the buildings. He was being chased by at least half a dozen youths on broomsticks.
"Was that a dragon?" Tonks shrieked, going for her wand as she glared up at the sky.
"Relax, he's friendly. His name is Rigel," Harry said with a burst of laughter. "The kids like to chase him around the island, it's this whole game they've got going on."
"But the Statute of Secrecy," Tonks said in an urgent voice as she glared at Harry. "They could be seen."
"By who?" Harry shrugged and continued his walk down High Street. "There are no muggles here, Miss Jones, and therefore there is no Statute of Secrecy. Our dragon and our kids can do all the flying they want."
Tonks couldn't stop frowning now as she processed all that she'd learned so far. They made it to town square, where quite a few people were milling about, doing a bit of shopping or chatting with each other on the bench beneath the large beech tree.
The door to Broomstix opened and Sirius stepped out. "Hey, Harry!" Sirius shouted, raising his arm and giving Harry a big wave.
"Hey, Sirius!" Harry waved back.
"Dog man, dog man," V chattered while bobbing his head in Sirius' direction.
Tonks stood stock still, mouth dropped open. "Is that Sirius Black? He was executed." And before she could stop herself, her hair turned from an average brown to a bright pink.